Meet the candidate

Office sought: He's seeking re-election as a state senator in the 44th District, covering Amity, Douglass and Union townships in Berks County, plus parts of Chester and Montgomery counties.

Current salary of office: $86,478 a year

Experience: State senator since 2003. Previously operated a golf course and ice skating rink in Audubon. Methacton School Board member, 1980-1984; later a Lower Providence Township supervisor; serves on the advisory council of the South East Veterans Center in Spring City.

Education: Bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown; master's degree from Beaver College (now Arcadia University) in Glenside; law degree from Temple University.

Audubon, PA —

State Sen. John Rafferty will run in the May primary for a fifth term representing the 44th District, which covers Amity, Douglass and Union townships in Berks County, plus parts of Chester and Montgomery counties.

Senators serve four-year terms, and he is serving his 16th year. He says he has been an aggressive legislator and has tried hard to pass bills for everyone.

"I have seniority, knowledge, and I have an A-1 staff," he said. "They are very responsive and try to move things forward for constituents. I try to do right by the people of the 44th."

Rafferty is the chairman of the Transportation Committee, vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and a member of the Law and Justice and Consumer Protection committees. He also served on the Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission, which reviews all criminal laws and sentences for current laws.

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A number of his bills have concentrated on crime, such as the 2012 Bradley Fox legislation that increased penalties for straw purchasers of firearms. Fox, a Plymouth Township police officer, was shot and killed in the line of duty with a gun obtained through a straw purchase.

Rafferty was the prime sponsor of legislation that stiffened the penalty for when a burglar harms a victim inside the victim's home, and also advocated stronger penalties for those who recruit gang members or forcibly prevent someone from leaving a gang.

He is proudest of legislation involving the protection of children. Rafferty and a co-sponsor brought Jessica's Law and Megan's Law to Pennsylvania. Jessica's Law requires a minimum sentence of 25 years for first-time child sex offenders. Megan's Law requires sex offenders to participate in a searchable online public registry.

He was supportive of Libre's Law, passed in 2017. It increases penalties on individuals convicted of abusing animals and guides how long pets may be kept outside in the cold.

"I am very supportive of our first responders," he said. "I was a prime sponsor for full pension benefits for widows or widowers of police officers or firefighters killed in the line of duty."

He says he led the effort to pass Act 89 in 2013, an infrastructure funding bill that has provided for bridge replacements and rehabilitations across the state.

He continues to work on legislation that will eliminate property taxes and says he does not believe that someone who is retired and living on a fixed income should lose their home because of increasing property taxes.

"I take my job very seriously," Rafferty said.

Contact Beth Brelje: 610-371-5022 or bbrelje@readingeagle.com.

Meet the candidate

Candidate: John Rafferty, 64, Audubon, Montgomery County

Party: Republican

Office sought: He's seeking re-election as a state senator in the 44th District, covering Amity, Douglass and Union townships in Berks County, plus parts of Chester and Montgomery counties.

Current salary of office: $86,478 a year

Experience: State senator since 2003. Previously operated a golf course and ice skating rink in Audubon. Methacton School Board member, 1980-1984; later a Lower Providence Township supervisor; serves on the advisory council of the South East Veterans Center in Spring City.

Education: Bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown; master's degree from Beaver College (now Arcadia University) in Glenside; law degree from Temple University.